A tribute to Dave Milne, Lincoln Group
 
 Dave died on the fifth anniversary of death of Brett Collier. Two POWs, short of stature but both devoted to walking! The crematorium was packed with family and rambling friends from many groups.  He would have been 95 in September.  Back in 2001 when this photo was taken we wrote about what he was doing when he was 85. It was a long list.  He could still do our 15 mile leg stretchers.  In those days he went on any walk he could get a lift to.  But then age took its toll and the distance he could walk got less.  But he still came on the 2-mile walks for as long as he was able.
He was a Scot born in Nairn.  His part in World War 2 was mostly as a POW in Germany and Poland.  At the end of the war he had taken part on a forced march of 500 miles or more.  In 1995 he wanted to recreate it but the logistics were too great.  But in 1990 he had walked from Lincoln to Dunkirk to the place he had been taken captive in 1940 and raised thousands of pounds.
After the war he became a post man in Hitching, Hertfordshire.  When he retired and came to live in Lincoln he liked to deliver the programmes & newsletters.  His round for delivering programmes was originally quite extensive and the only complaint I ever got was the lack of toilets in North Hykeham! 

During the 1990s Dave stepped up his longer walks and he started walking with the newly set up Lincolnshire branch of the LDWA (Long Distance Walkers Association). 
When he was 80, he did the Lyke Wake Walk, some 43 miles in 17 hours across the North York Moors.  Aged 81 he broke his ankle, jumping off a stile on the Caistor Challenge.  He hobbled to the nearest road before he was picked up.  That didn’t stop him doing other walks.  He continued to do big distances - 16 and 17 miles on the Limestone Way in Derbyshire and the whole of Lindsey Loop (again).  His favourite walk seems to have been the Scarborough Rock Challenge which he did ten times in his 70s on the first weekend in January. In his 80s he did the 3 peak challenge (Yorks) and when they were having a drink at the end the Lancaster bomber flew over and he was convinced it was to salute him!  He loved a drink after a walk.
 Miriam Smith

Below are a few of the photos of Dave on walks which I have managed to find. Photographers unknown.

1. A picture of Dave taken on a Lincoln group walk in 2001 when he had a birthday pint along the way.

2. Sept 0995 Dave at 80, in LDWA T shirt.

3. In the Black Horse, Donington on Bain with friends on the Lindsey Loop March 93 -  Dave, Tony Broad, Eileen Philips, Christine Rennie, Tony Willerton

4.  Lindsey loop March 93 Dave centre with Tony Willerton, Eileen Phillips, Christine Rennie, Tony Broad.

5. Sometime in the 1990s,

6. On the Viking Way May 93 with Eileen Phillips and Stick Hancock.

7. With the Lincoln Group Monday 2 Milers, 2004

Dave and the Dunkirk walk 1990.

Those of you who were members of Lincoln Group in 1990 will well remember Daves sponsored  walk from Lincoln to Dunkirk in May 1990 on the 50th anniversary of the evacuation.. In 1990 Dave, then 74, was a very active member of the Long Distance Walkers Association and was fond of doing the challenge walks which were typically 25 miles These were held around the country. In his interview with the Lincolnshire Echo reporter at the time, Dave said that in 1989 he had walked an estimated 1120 miles which he said was 'not a lot, really'.

The cuttings below, courtesy Lincolnshire Echo, show what was happening. Prior to the walk you will see that Dave did a training day with soldiers from the Royal Corps of Transport  at RAF Spitalgate, near Grantham. The picture shows him training with L-Cpls Anita Cumberpath and Kevin Humphreys. It is also worthwhile to read the scan of the printed article to learn a little of Dave's life.